Drabbles
by Lerayl
Summary: A collection of drabbles hundredword stories, based on Suikogaiden.
1. Six Through Ten

Notes: A drabble is a short story exactly 100 words long, excluding title. They're also very addictive to write.  
  
Suikogaiden belongs to Konami, not me, and we can all thank heaven for that.  
  
---  
Empty  
---  
  
The tradition was to place the image of the person you cared for most within the cameo.  
  
She paused to remove the picture before giving it to Lena to deliver to Nash, leaving it blank.   
  
In her heart, she realized long ago that her brother was not coming back; she knew that he would just kill, and abandon them, the same as he had done five years ago. He hadn't changed; he never would.  
  
She knew that he loved her. She knew he only wanted to protect her. And... she knew how much the empty cameo would hurt him.  
  
And she didn't care.  
  
---  
Truth  
---  
  
"Before we marry, Yuuli, I should tell you a few things." Zaj sat down in front of his fiance, the daughter of the esteemed Latkje family, wearing a serious expression. "This might come as a shock."  
  
"Okay, Zaj." She nodded, completely lovestruck.  
  
"I'm the one who murdered your parents."  
  
"Okay, Zaj."  
  
"I'm going to kill your brother tonight."  
  
"Okay, Zaj."  
  
"I don't give a rip about you and am just using you to gain status in this country."  
  
"Okay, Zaj." Yuuli paused. "Can we skip to the sex now?"  
  
Zaj stared, for a long moment.  
  
"Jesus Christ," he muttered, walking away, "So that's where her brother gets it from."   
  
---  
Evolution  
---  
  
"Where are we, Mr. Nash?" said Viki.  
  
He shook his head. Upon failing to escape his fangirl horde by tactics of blushing, stammering, and generally acting virginal, he had turned, fled the scene, and stumbled across the one person who could help him get away.  
  
But it went horribly wrong. Viki had sneezed, and they landed in an unfamiliar place, full of colors and spiralling hearts. Something was wrong. He felt... an evolution taking place within.  
  
Nash winked at her, flashing her his most charming, flirtatious grin.  
  
"This," he announced, "is the dimension of /love/!"  
  
From that day forward, Nash Latkje was never the same.  
  
---  
Debt  
---  
  
He burst into the Crystal Palace, heart hammering.  
  
"Lord Sasarai! You have to help me!"  
  
Sasarai looked up. "If it isn't Nash. Need help, eh?"  
  
"Yes! I've had thirty-thousand assassins after me this /week/! I can't do this alone."  
  
"I seem to recall you owing me a favor already, Nash."  
  
"Er..."  
  
"Say, there's a war brewing in the Grasslands. An agent must go down and investigate. Very dangerous mission. If they're found out, - highly probable - they'll be caught, tortured, killed... but who to send? I wonder, who's the right man for the job?"  
  
Pause.  
  
"... Oh, shit."  
  
Sasarai smirked. "That's right. Time to pay the piper, whore."  
  
---  
Understanding  
---  
  
Lena stared at her niece, at a loss for words, torn between both sympathy and anger. Didn't she understand that her brother was fighting for his life even as they spoke, that they could not afford to waste time like this? Didn't she understand that Zaj Quilos was the man who murdered her parents, who had lied to and betrayed her without a second thought? And she still...  
  
"Why?" she asked.  
  
"I love him," Yuuli answered, looking away, brushing a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. Tears brimmed her eyes. "I'm sorry. Is it that hard to understand?"  
  
"Yes," Lena said.  
  
---  
Note: Yuuli is not this mean. Really. ... but it's fun writing her as though she were! 


	2. One Through Five

Notes: A drabble is a short story exactly 100 words long, excluding title. They're also very addictive to write.  
  
Suikogaiden belongs to Konami, not me, and we can all thank heaven for that.  
  
---  
Servitude  
---  
  
It was at these times that Nash wondered if he had chosen the wrong path in life.  
  
He was kneeling in the Crystal Temple of Harmonia to the esteemed Bishop Sasarai, who had always acted pleasant enough outwardly. But Nash knew of the ruthless, terrifying side hidden behind that innocent facade.  
  
He grimanced as Sasarai looked at his servant, smiling that particular smile. Nash knew what was coming next.  
  
"Nash."  
  
"My lord?"  
  
"Did you know... that bitches love me 'cause they know that I can rock?!"  
  
"... Yes, my lord."  
  
As Sasarai wandered off, humming to himself, Nash knew he was in for a very long day.  
  
---  
Sin  
---  
  
Her fingers gripped the windowsill, knuckle-white, as she drew in a shaky breath. She gazed down upon the remnants of her sin, her fatal loss of control. She tried to justify it to herself; a misunderstanding, simply a girl caught up in the moment. All of it fell to nothing like so much shattered glass. It was wrong; it had been /wrong/. And yet...  
  
There was no going back. She knew that she would have to pay for this.  
  
Footsteps, the sound of a door opening. Her mouth went dry. The game was up.  
  
"Lena! Did you push Nash out the window /again/?"  
  
---  
Confession  
---  
  
"I love you."  
  
Nash drew in a sharp breath, disbelieving. It was the moment he had hoped for and yet dared not to hope for at the same time; the same three words that echoed within his mind whenever he cast his eyes upon their radiant beauty. He reaches out, brushes his fingers against the softness that he had only dreamt about up until now, barely holding back his own tears.  
  
It was all right, he knew. Everything would be all right now. He could finally say what had always wanted to for all of these long years.  
  
"I love you, too... Dominguez."  
  
---  
Eternity  
---  
  
"This will never work."  
  
"Why not?" he asks, harshly, and his voice pains her. The ring he holds in his hand shimmers in the moonlight with faint promises of what could be. But no, it was unacceptable; beyond that, it was unthinkable. He was still so young; still so achingly naive. Just like Rean had been. It would only be selfish of her to accept, knowing that he couldn't understand... no matter how much she may have wanted to say yes.  
  
She whispers, barely audible, "We could never have eternity. You know that."  
  
"No," he agrees, voice low, "but we do have now."  
  
---  
Tension  
---  
  
Married life, thought Nash, was not all it was cracked up to be.  
  
It wasn't as though he regretted taking the bloodsucking fiend for a wife; of course not. On the contrary, he was all too happy he had persuaded her to finally do something about that crazy sexual tension that had been building up between them over the years.  
  
What he was saying was that all women had nuances. Quirks. Some of which could drive a man batty - no pun intended.  
  
He glared at her, arms folded.  
  
"I am /not/ buying you another can of tomato juice!"  
  
She electrocuted him on the spot. 


	3. Eleven Through Fifteen

Notes: A drabble is a short story exactly 100 words long, excluding title. They're also very addictive to write.  
  
Suikogaiden belongs to Konami, not me, and we can all thank heaven for that.  
  
---  
Reason  
---  
  
Nash stumbled back, eyes wide. He automatically went for dagger, but the click of the pistol Zaj was holding stopped him.  
  
Had Zaj really been after his life all these years? Sure, Nash had nearly killed him on his wedding night, but he didn't know Zaj would take it so darn /personally/.  
  
"Why," he demanded, "Why are you doing this? Because I'm a first class citizen? Because I'm a Latkje? Revenge for what happened five years ago?"  
  
"Oh, no," Zaj said. "Don't be ridiculous."  
  
"Then what is it?"  
  
"Remember? You never paid me back that twenty potch I lent you, you cheap bastard."   
  
Nash facefaulted.  
  
---  
Reason - II  
---  
  
Nash tensed, blue eyes locked on the dark-haired man sitting at the desk before him.  
  
"How many times do I have to say it? I don't want to fight you," Nash said, voice low and intense. "Is this petty revenge really so instrumental to what you're planning?"  
  
"What on earth are you talking about, Latkje? My reasons for going after you have nothing whatsoever to do with my plans," Zaj said, looking surprised.  
  
Nash blinked. "They're not?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Oh." The blonder of the two tilted his head, with a puzzled frown. "Then... what is it?"  
  
"Because you're so much prettier than I am, you poncy sod."  
  
---  
Comparison  
---  
  
Nash grit his teeth, biting back the urge to scream.  
  
He had known that he was signing himself up for trouble when he married the old hag. He knew she had a thousand years of emotional baggage, loneliness and True Rune-related issues to work through, and that he could well end up on the receiving end of them. And he had been willing to accept that. But this... this went beyond anything he could have imagined.  
  
"Did you /have/ to get one with so much lace?" he asked.  
  
"Oh, quit whining," said Sierra. "Besides, you look much better than Rean in a dress."  
  
---  
Undeath  
---  
  
He knew that he was dying.  
  
Blood spilled between his fingers, clutching at shredded skin. His mind was hazy; he couldn't think clearly. His own breath sounded harsh and raspy in his ears.   
  
He thought he could see his sister, shyly asking him to brush her hair. Or his father, lecturing him on the ways in which their politics would shape the world.  
  
But most of all, he thought that he could hear her voice, feel her shaking hands cup his face.   
  
"Blue Moon Rune, grant him the blessings of undeath..."  
  
It was the last thing he heard before he fell into unconsciousness.  
  
---  
Witness  
---  
  
He watches her from a distance, this woman whom he had met barely a week ago. Her fingers trace the windowsill as she gazes out into the night sky of Alma Kinan, eyes filled with self-doubt.  
  
"What's happening to me?" she asks, and jumps slightly when he answers from across the room.  
  
"I've seen it a lot," he says, leaning against the doorway. "It's kind of what I do. Watch heroes blossom, I mean."  
  
She studies him for a moment, then looks away.  
  
"But I'm not," Chris says, sadly, "A hero, that is."  
  
He shakes his head, the faintest of smiles tracing his lips.  
  
"I disagree."  
  
---  
Notes: "Undeath" shamelessly ripped off from the fake Suikogaiden III posted at Suikosource. 


	4. Sixteen Through Twenty

Notes: A drabble is a short story exactly 100 words long, excluding title. They're also very addictive to write.  
  
Suikogaiden belongs to Konami, not me, and we can all thank heaven for that.  
  
---  
  
Uncanny  
  
---  
  
(Well, that certainly wasn't the Beast Rune.)  
  
Nash sighed, straightening and running his fingers through his hair in exasperation. He didn't have time for this - all armadilloids aside, he still had no leads whatsoever as to the object of his mission.  
  
"Uncanny."  
  
He turned, eyes widening at the familiar voice.  
  
"Elza? It couldn't be... is that you?"  
  
"Pretty much." She shrugged, loose blonde hair tumbling over her shoulders. Tilted her head, and smirked at her old friend and fellow Guild trainee. "Absolutely uncanny," she repeated.  
  
"What is?"   
  
"Even when you're poking at a mutant gopher, you /still/ look like you're trying to seduce us all."  
  
---  
  
Mentor  
  
---  
  
He wasn't cut out for this.  
  
Others may have disagreed, as he seemed to infuriate Lady Chris Lightfellow and push all of her buttons even when he wasn't trying to. But there were times when she approached him, asked him for advice, pondered her existence with him as a pair of sympathetic ears.  
  
Like now.  
  
"Have you... ever been through something like this?" she said.  
  
He closed his eyes; snatches of memories, of guilt, of death, of betrayal, of a thousand things better off not seen or heard of - laid just beyond his words' reach.  
  
"Me?" he said, mildly. "I'm just a water traveller."  
  
---  
  
Constant  
  
---  
  
"So you've been alright." Sierra said. "I'm glad."  
  
"Don't get me wrong. All of this... it's complicated. Lord Sasarai's on the verge of losing his mind." He laughed. "I'm technically breaking my oath to him just by telling you about this."  
  
"I see..."  
  
He considered his next words. "Lovely ladies here, though. One who bears a striking resemblence to you, actually, though not half so brash, ill-mannered, and guilty of statutory rape."  
  
Pause.  
  
"You go to hell, Nash. You go to hell and you die."  
  
He smiled. "Been living it ever since I've married you, dear."  
  
She electrocuted him on the spot.  
  
Some things, he supposed, never changed.  
  
---  
  
Payback  
  
---  
  
"Tell me what you think of this one," said Sasarai, glancing at his notes. "'If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?'"  
  
Nash let out a sound somewhere between a whimper and a snarl. "I can't take this any more."  
  
"Stop complaining, Clovis." The bishop's tone was cool. "You /owe/ me."  
  
Nash groaned in frustration. "You've forced me to listen to your awful pick-up lines sixteen times, now! Just this past week!"  
  
Sasarai didn't bat an eyelash. "I have no memory of these events."   
  
"Lord Sasarai...!"  
  
"Now, where we we…?"  
  
Nash turned and slammed his head against the nearest wall.  
  
---  
  
Revelation  
  
---  
  
She held her breath, eyes widening, staring at the Harmonian boy in disbelief.  
  
"What did you just say?" she asked, voice hushed.  
  
"Uh?" He suddenly looked rather uncomfortable, which was quite a change from the pensive contemplation from only seconds before. "That… I… wouldn't mind becoming a vampire for you...?"  
  
She waved her hand dismissively. "No, no. The part before that."  
  
Nash blinked, his face turning to a bewildered frown. "… that, uh, you're prettier than what Rean was anyway?"  
  
Sierra had to stop her eyes from welling up with tears. "That's the first time anyone's ever said that to me. /Ever/."  
  
Nash could only stare.  
  
---  
  
Notes: Formatting on ff.net both bewilders me and makes me cry. But whatever. 


End file.
